Robot access control and governance for robotic process automation

Abstract

Robot access control and governance for robotic process automation (RPA) is disclosed. A code analyzer of an RPA designer application, such as a workflow analyzer, may read access control and governance policy rules for an RPA designer application and analyze activities of an RPA workflow of the RPA designer application against the access control and governance policy rules. When one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violate the access control and governance policy rules, the code analyzer prevents generation of an RPA robot or publication of the RPA workflow until the RPA workflow satisfies the access control and governance policy rules. When the analyzed activities of the RPA workflow comply with all required access control and governance policy rules, the RPA designer application may generate an RPA robot implementing the RPA workflow or publish the RPA workflow.

1 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing a computer program for performing robot access control and governance for robotic process automation (RPA), the computer program configured to cause at least one processor to:
 analyze activities of an RPA workflow of the RPA designer application against the access control and governance policy rules by running a series of rules that inspect the activities of the RPA workflow, the RPA workflow comprising an execution order and a relationship between the activities;   responsive to one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violating the access control and governance policy rules, prevent generation of an RPA robot or publication of the RPA workflow until the RPA workflow satisfies the access control and governance policy rules; and   responsive to the analyzed activities of the RPA workflow complying with all required access control and governance policy rules, generate an RPA robot implementing the RPA workflow or publish the RPA workflow, wherein   the access control and governance policy rules cannot be modified by a user of the RPA designer application.   
     
     
         2 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein responsive to the one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violating the access control and governance policy rules, the computer program is configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 generate a notification corresponding to a severity specified in a governance policy.   
     
     
         3 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein an installation script for the RPA designer application installs the access control and governance policy rules on a computing system. 
     
     
         4 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules comprise application and/or universal resource locator (URL) restrictions, package restrictions, activity restrictions, and activity property requirements. 
     
     
         5 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis of the activities of the RPA workflow comprises verifying whether one or more libraries to be accessed in an RPA workflow activity are included in a whitelist or not included in a blacklist. 
     
     
         6 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 download the access control and governance policy rules from a conductor application.   
     
     
         7 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules comprise controls on which applications and/or universal resource locators (URLs) are automated, controls on what activities are used in the RPA workflow, controls on what packages are used for the RPA workflow, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules are defined for the RPA designer application based on an organization, a role, a group, an individual developer, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 display a package management interface comprising packages that may be accessed by the activities of the RPA workflow; and   prevent a user of the RPA designer application from modifying the permitted packages or adding new packages that are not permitted based on the access control and governance policy rules.   
     
     
         10 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 display a code analyzer settings interface that lists the access control and governance policy rules.   
     
     
         11 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules comprise one or more application and/or universal resource locator (URL) restrictions, one or more package restrictions, one or more activity restrictions, one or more activity property requirements, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method for performing robot access control and governance for robotic process automation (RPA), comprising:
 analyzing activities of an RPA workflow of an RPA designer application against access control and governance policy rules by running a series of rules that inspect the activities of the RPA workflow, by a code analyzer of a computing system, the RPA workflow comprising an execution order and a relationship between the activities; and   responsive to one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violating the access control and governance policy rules, preventing generation of an RPA robot or publication of the RPA workflow until the RPA workflow satisfies the access control and governance policy rules, by the code analyzer of the computing system, wherein   the code analyzer is computer code that automatically runs the access control and governance policy rules as a series of rules that inspect the code written by an RPA user, wherein   the access control and governance policy rules cannot be modified by a user of the RPA designer application.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 responsive to the analyzed activities of the RPA workflow complying with all required access control and governance policy rules, generating an RPA robot implementing the RPA workflow or publishing the RPA workflow, by the RPA designer application.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein responsive to the one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violating the access control and governance policy rules, the method further comprises:
 generating a notification corresponding to a severity specified in a governance policy, by the code analyzer of the computing system.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules comprise application and/or universal resource locator (URL) restrictions, package restrictions, activity restrictions, and activity property requirements. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules comprise controls on which applications and/or universal resource locators (URLs) are automated, controls on what activities are used in the RPA workflow, controls on what packages are used for the RPA workflow, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 displaying a package management interface comprising packages that may be accessed by the activities of the RPA workflow, by the RPA designer application; and   preventing a user of the RPA designer application from modifying the permitted packages or adding new packages that are not permitted based on the access control and governance policy rules, by the RPA designer application.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 displaying a code analyzer settings interface that lists the access control and governance policy rules, by the designer application.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the access control and governance policy rules comprise one or more application and/or universal resource locator (URL) restrictions, one or more package restrictions, one or more activity restrictions, one or more activity property requirements, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         20 . One or more computing systems, comprising:
 memory storing computer program instructions for performing robot access control and governance for robotic process automation (RPA); and   at least one processor configured to execute the computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions are configured to cause the at least one processor to:   analyze activities of an RPA workflow of an RPA designer application against access control and governance policy rules by running a series of rules that inspect the activities of the RPA workflow, the RPA workflow comprising an execution order and a relationship between the activities;   responsive to one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violating the access control and governance policy rules, prevent generation of an RPA robot or publication of the RPA workflow until the RPA workflow satisfies the access control and governance policy rules; and   responsive to the analyzed activities of the RPA workflow complying with all required access control and governance policy rules, generate an RPA robot implementing the RPA workflow or publish the RPA workflow, wherein   the access control and governance policy rules comprise one or more application and/or universal resource locator (URL) restrictions, one or more package restrictions, one or more activity restrictions, one or more activity property requirements, or a combination thereof,   the access control and governance policy rules are defined for the RPA designer application based on an organization, a role, a group, an individual developer, or a combination thereof, and   the access control and governance policy rules cannot be modified by a user of the RPA designer application.   
     
     
         21 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 20 , wherein responsive to the one or more analyzed activities of the RPA workflow violating the access control and governance policy rules, the computer program instructions are configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 generate a notification corresponding to a severity specified in a governance policy.   
     
     
         22 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 20 , wherein the analysis of the activities of the RPA workflow comprises verifying whether one or more libraries to be accessed in an RPA workflow activity are included in a whitelist or not included in a blacklist. 
     
     
         23 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 20 , wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 display a package management interface comprising packages that may be accessed by the activities of the RPA workflow; and   prevent a user of the RPA designer application from modifying the permitted packages or adding new packages that are not permitted based on the access control and governance policy rules.   
     
     
         24 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 20 , wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 display a code analyzer settings interface that lists the access control and governance policy rules.